#theres just so many well written characters with trauma in this game and i really like analyzing that

[baldurs-gate-official]

I was looking through some of my older posts to find a specific one (about Astarion and CPTSD+Lashing out as a trauma response) and realized the one I was looking for is still in my drafts or queue, which made me realize that a LOT of my posts are lost in there (I usually don't post things directly, I just shove them in the queue and hit shuffle)

Which means...its like looking for a needle in a haystack.

oh boy

[ann3ofabyss4lred]

SPOILERS FOR CLSSS OF 09: FLIPSIDE..

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I'm disappointed in flipside...was worth it show us foot fetish? Jecka being s3xu4lly traff1cked? Like they didn't implied it ..they showed her half naked..very draw in detail..they showed her body naked when she off herself. Nicole sitting and putting her feet on Jecka's dad's mouth????....it was misery p0rn...it also feel like the creator disliked how much people were saying "oh the girls are so cool".. like they wanted to criticized men but also paint the girls from using men as hypocrites?? So they butchered their characters?..Idk..now looking back at it..there were things that I disliked about the first game...but didn't see right well with me... Like there are red flags..even if Nicole is really depressed and Jecka too. They acted like "I want to be d3pr3ssed..I'm making a d3pr3ssed playlist on iTunes" "if I fake this disorders" u know for the audience to laugh at them as if they weren't really depressed...(not saying they aren't..NICOLE AND JECKA ARE REALLY DEPRESSED) ..but there's q lots of people ..that believe girls love to pretend they have disorders...as misogynistic and ableist it is..some people think that way..that's why they put it there as humor...

I think they had luck on flipside because instead of saying "ha they hypocrites,many girls empathized with the fictional girls in some way..or don't feel them bad about those men being used...because they were bad and they still see the girls as victims...even if they aren't good people" and they didn't shame Nicole for being misandrist and was always proven right.

I don't know how to redact this shit..it does feel like they criticized society...but also...get off on misandrist girls....and many stuff feels for shock value..more than actual criticizing or creative comebacks...

In flipside is basically disguised fetish...and do have in mind some men get off misandrist girls..(aside from the real valid reason to be misandrist like s3xu4l trauma) like some boys and men get off or also mock (or both) women reduce them to "u guys only play videogames and do anything thing for s3x".

So just disappointed in the game.i did got bad vibes on the first game..but didn't see about it..also we got queerbaited with Jecka and Ari...and have in mind this written by a weirdo and a man..

Also the joke of "was it q Pakistani or Palestinian Man traff1cking me" was not it..

Maybe I'll do q post explaining why flipside was disguised fetish and why I got those vibes from the first game but not very high..

Still love Jeckole and any girl pairing there..except Nicole and Ari...

READ THE REBLOG...THERES SHITTY THINFS ABOUT THE CREATOR

[cherryfennec]

what do you think would have happened if Timpani hadn't found Blumiere at the base of the cliff and he would have died? do you think the prophecy would have still happened? if yes, then do you happen to have any theories about who would have carried it out and would they have succeeded?

So this is a very difficult question! The topic of the prophecies in the Dark Prognosticus is just in general one of the more trivial things to consider.

So let's go through over the main scenario: Blumiere falls from a cliff and is probably hidden well under the rubble. Timpani, who happens to be in the area, can't really see anyone under the scarp because of the dirt and rocks so she assumes the pieces fell naturally due to a small earthquake or wind and there's no one there. While she walks away, Blumiere unfortunately is too weak to make it out of the rubble and ultimately dies.

Now...

What would this mean for Timpani and the Tribe of Darkness specifically? Well first of all, neither of them would end up dead/gone.

It is implied through the short snippets of the main villians backstory (which appear in-between chapters) that ultimately after losing his beloved and becoming Count Bleck, Blumiere wipes out his clan, which is rather gruesome but not unexpected for this game tbh. With him dissapearing instead (cause theres a chance they might've not even found him) everyone in the Tribe lives and he himself would be portrayed as an innocent person until the end, the loss of whom only brought sorrow to his family and friends. Other than that the civilization would still thrive for years to come.

As for Timpani: without having met Blumiere, she would've probably spent her days living a normal daily life, not even knowing someone like him ever existed. She could expand her hobbies, travel, make friends etc. She could even find a partner but... it wouldn't be the same and I'll elaborate on that in a bit. In general she would have had more time to discover herself and enjoy the little things.

What does this mean for the prophecy?

The Dark Prognosticus is kinda weird because it describes the future that relies on the book being read. Basically it knows that it will be opened, but because it will be opened the prophecy will happen in the first place, which it also knows. It gets confusing when you think about it too much. In any case the 'end of the world' requires someone to kickstart all the events.

Blumieres and Timpanis love was a very rare kind of love, an extremely strong and dedicated one. And if not for that fact, Bleck wouldn't probably go as far as to destroying everything just for her sake. Now without our specially picked out Champion of Destruction, would it even be possible for the prophecy to happen? As we said before if the Count died at the cliff, the book would absolutely know about it. With this in mind there are 3 options as I see it:

The prophecy couldn't be fulfilled/it wouldn't exist in this timeline. Basically: There was no other person that could play the role of the catalyst nor had the means to obtain the Prognosticus/didn't know it existed and so the danger never arrived and everyone lived happily ever after. (yipie no trauma for the Mario gang and especially Luigi yahoo)

The prophecy could be fulfilled by a new character who also fits the requirements and basically fills in for Count Bleck. Simply put: the book found someone else good for the role and it all plays out as written. This is where the plot is up to interpretation because there are just too many factors to take into consideration.'Who would reach out for help to Mario?', I don't know, maybe this new character could also be doing this for the sake of someone else I and that's who would be our Timpani replacement or something I guess.'Would Mimi and O'Chunks be there to help?', probably not because the reason they joined in on the plan in the first place is specifically tied to the person that the Count was. But you know who would definitely be there?

Technically we don't really need a new character and it's going to be a little obvious who I'm about to mention. The prophecy is much more altered in this scenario, and it basically revolves about Dimentio carrying it all out. So from the gossip you get from the barista about everyone on Team Bleck it is implied that Dimentio was the one who actively sought out the Count, not the other way around. From this we can deduce that he was aware of the Dark Prognosticus's existence and was out to get it by all means. Out of the known to us characters he'd really be the one person who would end up tied to the fate of the book in most cases. So in this scenario he simply steals the book from the tribe and tries to work it out by himself. 'Would he be able to carry it out alone?' I'd say there's a chance he could do it. Being built on deceipt and using others he might've been able to work from the shadows and make his way to the end goal. 'How would Mario learn about it?' Again, I don't know. It's up to the ones interpretation really. Imagine if Dimentio just goes around taking people who have the slightest trace of green on them and thus becomes like this underground villain and no-one knows anything him about other than his existence. He's like this rumour that people like to scare kids with. One day Mario hears about it, laughs it off then Luigi randomly dissapears and the chase is on, during which the red plumber learns about this mysterious figure and it's intentions bit by bit and theres like a side Peach and Bowser plot which ends with Dimentio taking up a fake persona and tricking them into saying their vows to create the Chaos Heart IDK.

I could try writing up a specific scenario for this but it'd require more time to plan out if I were to actually do it, I'd basically be writing a completely new story which tends to be difficult. (I'm currently trying my hand in writing a spm fic based on the 'Bad End Trio' Luigi design of mine and barely reached over 2k words. I'm not even near done and it's already been taking way longer than I thought it would. That's exactly why I very much respect writers.)

[chadsuke]

sasuke with 5, 12, 21, 23 for chara ask game :D

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

this is SO HARD bc usually my sasuke song of the moment is just. whatever song is haunting me. and i adapt that to sasuke in Whatever Way That Must Be. right now the song that is haunting me is what if it doesn't end well by chloe moriondo, but like. probably the beginning by one ok rock it's been on my sasuke/ftcoye playlists literally always. honestly when im writing him i often just... listen to the naruto openings/endings on loop... in which case naruto shippuden opening 19 and naruto shippuden ending 38. yeah. you dont want to know how long i spent on this question the answer is EVERY SONG EVER IS SASUKE IN SOME WAY and if i cant make it sasuke. i prob don't listen to it.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

how can i. sum up with ONE. man. man. first sasuke is non-binary 2 me. when he is not. idk. having a fucking Time Of It he will ponder gender things but in most of canon. well. he is having a Time Of It. he likes his hair being pet. if he does not have Things On His Arms he feels naked doesn't matter what else he's wearing. he definitely thought naruto kissed him on purpose tho thats not. really a headcanon that's canon i just need to always point that out.

he actually quite likes animals and i think he would benefit SO much from an emotional support animal. gives him one. Doesn't like nail polish. he ate so many raw veggies as a child because he was determined to try to Be Healthy but he didn't know how to cook/make a lot so he would just. buy things he could eat raw so he'd just chow down on a fucking cucumber. he has figured out how to do that intimidatingly nowadays. both of his teams find it very funny.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

dealing with his trauma and the fact that he's gotta be touch-starved to an insane extent and everything that's happened in his life that makes him want to rip off his own skin. bc, shockingly, he gets to process jackshit healthily in naruto itself. not that... i think he gets to process healthily in MY writing but thats because like...... theres only so much you can do when ur a child soldier... but i like fucking. dealing with it. also gender things but thats bc i enjoy Gender with every character ever.

uhhhhh i don't. really write things i don't like tbh but i guess i fucking hate writing fights? and sasuke is a hard one to write in fights? general if i don't want 2 write something i. don't.

in OTHER ppl's fics i would say like. virtually everything. i rarely read sasuke-centric fanfics bc i want to reach through the screen and go NO!!!!!!!

23. Favorite picture of this character?

glitter sasuke and sfw sasuke ofc

[mejomonster]

Now that I have given Sherlock Holmes Chapter One more time to unfold. I really love the writing. Like just cannot get over it tbh. I want to wrap myself in it. I'm having euphoria after the pains of (what moffat did once upon a time) and my villaineve girlies (and the ending after so much solid stuff beforehand).

It feels 1 like i real Sherlock Holmes story (as in written well, flawed growing characters, respectful to source material AND respectful to us the audience) while also feeling fresh (its a prequel so a lot of freedom to show a new young sherlock with flaws turning into someone more recognizable as he heals and grows, cases i dont know the answer of, and a pretty damn grounded childhood trauma emotional pains fucking relatable heart thread through a wilder more dramatic murder cases arc). The only game i can think ti compare it to is the Ryu Ga Gotoku games, specifically Judgement if you took just the detective gameplay. Like? While I think Judgements gameplay is a bit funner, I think Sherlock Holmes Chapter One has more in depth side cases so if you're a mystery lover it balances out (now Judgement's main case appears more in depth a bit, but its a huge fucking game so its to be expected). What I think they both do Right, is make u feel like ur the detective

In SHCO case the moral dillema of how well or sucky u solve a case and the consequences and the fact u CAN be wrong and arrest an innocent party make the stakes feel very high, the fact most suspects are guilty of Some cruel stuff but not always the murder means ur also debating morally what u think is gonna be the best thing to do out of multiple imperfect options even if u feel sure you know who the killer is... i am truly IMPRESSED with how well SHCO handles morally grey suspects and the choices u make about the outcomes, i havent seen it in many games and its made me question myself in Even Less games. The opening tutorial case is a basic example of whats to come: if u dont collect all evidence, u may not be totally sure who killed the victim, and can justify accusing either suspect. Then once u accuse them, u have to justify to Yourself if u are going to advocate they be punished severely or given some leniency. The rest of the cases play with this but go deeper.

Also like Judgement (and all yakuza games), it just does a very good job of building a realistic world (as much as budget allows anyway). Judgement is in Tokyo, so theres OLD people! Kids! Americans! Koreans! Countryside people! Rich, poor, middle class etc. Criminals, police, civilians, politicians, celebrities! illegal immigrants. There's east asian people, white people, black people, south asian people, there's people with mixed heritage, there's people that speak or don't speak various languages. Basically Judgement feels more like how you'd actually expect interacting in a city to feel, compared to a significant chunk of games (especially if u go older) where there is just no thought put into immigration or class or the myriad of real complexities of life for the variety of people that exist in the real world. There's some game simplifications like repeated npc lines, and then side quests and main stories flesh out various characters more (and SHCO uses case notes and info to flesh out in the way RGG game side story cutscenes and mini game plots do). Those are budget and time constraints. But like. SHCO has this grounded sort of game feel where you run across a city that feels like a realistic city of various people, and the social issues affecting people in it, where the characters in cases are a more fleshed out reflection of the people in the city, and where the social situations impacting everyone play out in more detailed ways as part of the case stories. Like fuck, I'm in the case with the painting now and. Its both got a lot to say about 1880s british empire and effects on a myriad of fucking people (and systematic abuses and damaging power structures), and as with much of history its got a lot to say about now. From the way power and social position influences ability to abuse and lack of remorse, immigration, international trade, colonization, racism, patriarchy, the extreme differences in personal background in how everyone involved acts and reacts and considers whats going on. Or the elephant case, where sherlock both in some ways reflects the society he exists in (sexism wise) and is also growing from that (self aware that the daughter is a person with as much decision power or more than him, unlike her own father's view of her, respecting Paul's situation while navigating a society where they both know the norm in comparison, recognizing that he's driven by his own desire to understand his Mom as a person when for so long he's had her on a pedestal and convinced himself of lies to himself about meek/strong Mothers and how it clouded his actual understanding of Violet as a person possibly struggling mentally in many similar ways to how he is). Like the elephant case is so simple in a lot of ways... but how many storiea have i seen where women just wouldnt have been written as equal, or as fleshed out characters, where Violet wouldnt be considered this in depth? Not just set in this time period but any time period tbh (it wasnt until the last maybe 10 years that movies and shows, sometimes, got a lot better with this to the point i could find it easier to avoid media that wrote women like lamps). I remember reading Fingersmith by Sarah Waters and how THRILLED i was to see realistic women in that time setting for a story (phenomenal novel btw). So like, starting SHCO i didnt know how fair the story would be to all inhabitants in it, and so far its wonderfully gone for a realistic grounded approach with characters that feel thoughtful in a world that is fleshed out and feels solid.

[blusandbirds]

hiiiii blu how about 3, 4, 5, 6, 14, 16, 17, 18?

hiii zanna :)

3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

this is honestly such a toughie and it changes a lot, but i think once i called you brother like remains my favorite. it's just really close to my heart even if i've written a lot better since then.

4. How many WIPs do you have right now?

ohhh man... i mean out of fics i'd say will actually get written, four main ones. three i'm constantly flicking between and one i started like a year ago and at the beginning of this year determined i will get back to by the end of this year at least.

5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write?

oh theres so many but there was a thiam teen wolf fic where they go to disneyland

6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time?

oh my god literally yes. anything in my ao3 bookmarks marked as a rec. i will specifically shout out "like falling water" by naheka which is a batman fic and "up to your knees" by indigostohelit which is a karate kid fic as having some character interactions and dialogue that live in my mind on repeat

14. If you could see one of your fics adapted into a visual medium, such as comic or film, which fan fic would you pick?

honestly i can't really imagine any of them, but maybe black chips adapted as a side plot in cobra kai just because i think jacob bertrand should paint his nails to match the mohawk

16. At what point in the process do you come up with titles?

it's either the first thing or the last thing, honest. typically i have a working title (a fall out boy lyric odds are) and then i finalize right before posting.

17. What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic?

when i did my top gun religious trauma fic (< wackass sentence) i learned that praying on the rosary takes freaking long bro. like im not catholic and i did not grow up around catholics so i was looking and im like damn i respect you fully but i would not do all that tbh

18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

this is from my terrible 2000s movie fic but i got a little crazy about sibling dynamics:

He’s never had a sister, but he thinks maybe the way she’ll dig her fingers into his soft spots—the soft spot on his cheekbone, her knuckles brushing his jaw and her voice a murmur of you were hitting on the wrong guy —well, there’s no word for it, but he thinks it’s the second best thing.

fanfic ask game!

[whenthechickencry]

Umineko EP3. Replay Part 3

She probably expected it but giving out so much of her trauma away just to not even be believed must have hurt a bit...

Yeah...

Again, obviously using this story as a device to talk about herself. K Beatrice never really considered suicide like that, the one that did was Yasu. The way the story says that Kinzo and Beatrice's love is one-sided is interesting - that's not how its portrayed in ep7, though I can imagine that's how Yasu saw it, due to how her life was fucked up by Kinzo.

The referring of Kinzo as mage/magician/blacksmith is pretty interesting to me. I think it shows how yes a complete dismissal of 'maigc' we see in Battler and later Erika is bad and can hurt people who need help the complete enabling that Genji and others did of Kinzo's magic is bad, too.

B-batler theres another more obvious and clear definition of the "miracle of creating life" here stop getting frustrated!

There are like a hundred million hints here Battler! No wonder Beatrice is starting to get frustrated with you. The only bigger hint she could give at this time is basically force-feeding the answer.

Awkard phrasing considering that's not even true aside - you can tell how their dynamic has changed a bit by now. By this point at the last chapter Battler was talking about how she was evil and would never accept her.

He's starting to get it but then he forces himself out of taking the story seriously.... Ronove tries to get him back on track though.

Woah I didn't realize they gave actual dates here... honestly, I don't have the timeline of events 100% clear in my mind on certain stuff so maybe I should work on that with this reread....

He's able to get the general gist back, though! Thanks, Ronove!

Ronove chastises him for trying to use Beatrice as a sacrificial piece here too - obviously a hint that we should look into the people he loves.

Here is Rosa basically talking about the time she heavily considered suicide and then there's her brother and her sister making fun of her for 1. Not trying harder and 2. Being a failure at what she likes. I sit really any surprise Rosa ended up as fucked up as she is?

Man, this so fucked up.... not allowed to know anything, completely stuck inside one man's delusions....

I think the fact in this episode you spend time with a younger Rosa and Eva a very interesting a necessary choice for the game - here you meet an Eva before the realization that her dreams will never become true and a Rosa before she was thrust into adulthood with a million unresolved traumas and no support system - I think this was a very necessary choice so that we could see this characters not as people to scapegoat for all the misfortune but as complicated people.

Yes, that's a better assessment, as her entire life has been a trick by and for Kinzo...

This must have really fucked up Rosa a lot - I imagine she felt so so guilty about it. I don't really think you can blame Beatrice or Rosa here - the fault lies with Kinzo grooming someone to be so defenseless and naive to the point they can barely understand danger.

Beato has had enough of having Battler try to blame an ethereal 19th person now, Battler is forced to play like a big boy now.

I think this is probably referring to how Kinzow is unable to take any results other than Beatrice being brought back to him... other people might think of ways of moving on with their life and accepting their misfortune.... Kinzo chose to spend the rest of his life chasing something impossible and ruining the lives of many people in the process.

I can't really express it very well here but holy shit an animated CG.

I might be overthinking this but the fact this episode, outside the meta, refers to the previous episodes is a hint that this one was written a bit after the other ones - the contrast between episode 2 and 3 Shannon is kind of interesting but ultimately it's not that different, Shannon doesn't believe that a real future with George is possible so she's fine with dying after getting the highest attainment (the ring) she believes she can possibly achieve. It's just her death here came earlier than it did in ep2.

Ouch that line about crying himself to sleep over being furniture hurts....

These conversations are pretty interesting when you consider it is the same person struggling with their own thoughts, the part that is fine with killing themselves after getting a ring since that's the happiest they will ever be and the part full of regret and bitterness...

The lines of pure self-hatred are pretty tragic too...

With this board being the first one to go really off the rails the fact Genji died so early probably has to do with it, lol, that's kind of hard mode for Yasu.... of course, the narrative purpose is Tohya knowing the board didn't go as Yasu planned I and to hint us towards how it actually went down in actuality.

Huh.... they bring this up again right after they bring up how Kinzo's wife did the same thing when she thought/knew Kinzow as having an affair.... I guess Natsuhi suspected that as well.

You can tell this episode isn't written by Gohda anymore because Gohda has a scene without someone remarking that he is a snake and evil.

The fact original Beatrice roughly means "played a lot of pranks" is pretty funny.

Battler going uh uh I can't take this anymore here always felt a little weird as if this was any weird than the Kanon goat fight in epsidoe 2... that was due to the changed plans in 3 probably though.

[shwoo]

🌵🍰 submitted: sorry theres so many, there were too many good questions! 📝, 🫂, 💕, 🌵, 🩷, ⌚

Oh, awesome, thanks! I... may have written too much in response.

(Bugsnax ask meme)

📝: Who is your favorite Grumpus to WRITE FOR?

This was hard! I'd say that Floofty is the easiest/most comfortable to write. There's something about their narrowly focused worldview and accidental rudeness that makes writing them feel very natural. The deliberate rudeness I do have to think about, though.

But the most fun is probably Clumby. I enjoy the contrast of a grumpy, pragmatic character with a ton of trauma and conflicting loyalties who wants to do the right thing, but isn't necessarily going to be nice about it. I'm speculating on some of those character traits, but I'm not pulling them out of nowhere.

Also, Chandlo, Snorpy and the Journalist are really fun to write as a trio. I think the Journalist has just enough in common with both Chandlo and Snorpy to bring out sides of them they wouldn't normally show to each other directly.

🫂: What grumpus would give the best hugs?

Well, apparently not Snorpy. Probably Chandlo or Gramble. Out of the characters with long arms, Chandlo is the strongest, and the most affectionate, although the Journalist's stance on affection is unclear. And Gramble has long arms for his size, and likes hugs so much that even his character description mentions it. So definitely one of those two. As long as Chandlo watches his strength.

💕: What's your favorite ships? (Either Canon, Non canon, or canon x oc!)

I like all the canon ships, but my favourite is Chandlo and Snorpy. They're two of my favourite characters (Nearly half the cast is my favourite character), and they complement each other so well. Now that they're communicating a bit better, they're probably going to be unstoppable.

I don't have any canon character/OC ships, but my favourite noncanon ship is Filbo and the Journalist! I ship it platonically, but I also enjoy the romatic version. Filbo and the Journalist are two more of my favourite characters, and I think they should be best friends and be extremely supportive of each other forever.

🌵: Thoughts about Cactriffy?

I have the unpopular opinion that it's not really sentient, and that Wambus or Triffany are the ones moving it around. Triffany uses it as a weapon in the final battle, so I don't think she's that bothered by it. I can't remember if Triffany puts it down before going to the ship, or if she just puts it away, and I guess it's weird that it's on the beach on the end if it's the second one, Possessions are kind of flexible in this game, though.

I don't know what's up with the letter you get, but maybe someone sent it as a prank or a joke after they saw the Journalist take an interest. Maybe Triffany.

…But if Wambus isn't creative, then who was Cactriffy has a favourite Bugsnak????

🩷: What's a fandom headcanon that everyone agreed on that you love? Do you have any of your own headcanons you wish to share?

I don't think there's any headcanons that everyone agrees on. Not even the one about Grumpuses hatching from eggs. Speaking of oviparous Grumpuses, I really like that headcanon! Grumpuses already canonically have some cool non-human traits (their giant sock puppet mouths…), and eggs open up some more points of difference. I like the idea of Grumpuses being bear relatives who re-evolved egg-laying, and their scientists being really confused about where they fit in at first. And maybe their pop culture sees egg-laying as a prerequisite to being sapient.

For a related headcanon, I think the natural history of their planet is similar to Earth's, but the ancestor of placental mammals kept colour vision, result in its descendents developing bird-like structural colour. So being brightly coloured like the Grumpuses is not uncommon among other mammals. Also, other animals tend to have the muppety noses and ping pong ball looking eyes, but the limited movement in the lower jaw is a Grumpus trait specifically.

⌚: what do you think some of the grumpuses were like before events? (I.e. as kids, as teens, etc)

I think about this a lot, but a lot of it's more about family circumstances than personality. Probably the most fleshed out is that the Journalist was a super weird kid, which was fine until they hit their preteen years and the social rules tightened up. They didn't realise things had changed, and kept making animal noises and cornering people to tell them about the latest Mothgrump sightings, until they lost all their friends and became a social outcast. Their parents were also different kinds of social disaster, so they couldn't do much to help.

After a few years, they focused really hard on observing people until they'd learned how they were expected to act. It didn't help them in high school, because everyone already knew them and they weren't very subtle about all the observing, but it did help in college. By this point they were wary of forming close relationships, but they had a lot of friendly acquaintances.

They seem kind of detached in the game, at least initially, so I was expanding on that and also being self-indulgent.

Also! I wrote a fanfic where it comes up, but Chandlo was skinny as a kid and bulked up so he could protect others better, and Snorpy had selective mutism as a result of being picked on for the way he speaks. Chandlo helped him get over a few years later, after finding out from Floofty why he was so afraid to speak. Floofty themself was pretty similar to how they are as an adult, just less experienced and less jaded.

A little later on Snorpy had a crush on every boy. Except Chandlo.

[hjarnrota]

Maruki (:

Sexuality Headcanon: the straightest man you have ever known, but you can convince me hes a little bi in a very very specific setting and under certain conditions

Gender Headcanon: cis

A ship I have with said character: bbbruuhh this man is so unwell and his neglected trauma seeps into every relationship/connection he has. think his relationship with rumi was already a little weird and overbearing, but at least she kept him in check and helped him grow out of his self-pitying. he definitely still infantilised her throughout and i salute rumis strength to stick with him. i like thinking about it <3

also have a weakness for ichinose/maruki imagery but only because i want her to pull his teeth out but so far i couldnt really draw it right

A BROTP I have with said character: interpreting these terms rly loosely here ok. just like what i said before i think he has troubles keeping up with strong relationships, and dont think he has that many acquaintances he can call friends, if at all. like to think about his attachment issues esp with joker and the way hes so fucking weird about it.. like the fact he seeks approval from a teenager he manipulates and blackmails is soooo

A NOTP I have with said character: maruki/hasegawa 🥴 theres literally nothing there

A random headcanon: wife and i luv making family headcanons so here it goes; maruki has extreme parental issues with his dad-problems being very obvious to him (never-enough-isms, neglect, hates this guy) vs him not being aware of his moms abuse (emotionally manipulative, plays him against his father, overbearing). its a rather complicated dynamic that gets worse after his mom dies around the time of the break-in.

can imagine his dad tries to do better afterwards and wants to reconnect and become a better father/man but maruki refuses to engage (valid). also every time i think of his dad i just see the head doctor of trauma center idk man

General Opinion over said character: this guy made persona 5 good and actually managed to offer an interesting theme to chew on and dissect, in my personal opinion lool literally such a well written character, so subtle in his manipulation that even he nor the player gets it. such a step up from the other comically evil palace owners, and third semester added such an amazing soundtrack and aesthetic on top of that. love thinking how hes such a disgusting man while still being.. just your friendly guy with good intentions. just think the way he acts is extremely believable and fun to think about

i cannot believe how a persona game did this, and hearing the writer for this arc is gonna take over the next game truly makes me excited for whats to come hehe

[silentstaresfanficandfanart]

:O thank you! i hope it helps <3 as someone who's written 3 original books, makes video games, and also writes a TON of fanfiction, it honestly makes writing SO much better, I would hate for other folks to lose their love of writing because they're worrying too much... Besides we all complain a lot about things being based on whats most popular and most acceptable, but its easy to fall into that trap when it comes to writing. Too many authors write "normal" books. books that fit whats popular, with words that are good but they had no fun writing, too many authors are trying to be perfect because theyre scared they wont make a living that way, but ill be honest the only authors ive bothered learning the names of, are the ones that were willing to be kind of weird first. theres a reason almost every great author in history breaks the writing rules, a lot of people just know the rules exist and try to follow them, but most don't know how to USE them concoiusly knowing why the tools work, and i think the same goes for conventional word usage. theres a lot of times people will be like "said is dead" but also give conflicting advice like "actually stop saying things other than said its annoying and i dont want to read you saying growled or flapped his hands around as he spoke or things like that, just say said!" And I think thats partially because people mistake personal preference for rules too...i got a bit rambly here i think but i hope that this helps encourage other writers to have some fun.

ill be honest thats actually part of why i got into reading romance novels, theyre a LOT more willing to do fun things like, have cowboy weredragons be a thing (actual book that exists!) and not worry about if its "cringe" because theyve already kinda accepted that romance books are considered "cringe" by people who dont read romance novels. Ive been practicing letting myself just have fun- : ) that's part of why in my book Halcyon (spoilers) theres a magic system that allows for weird stuff like palentologists turning into an ever-shifting spinosaurus because they riled up the spinosaurus's spirit while arguing at a palentology convention type thing at a museum and it got ticked off with him about how humans can never stop arguing about how spinosaurus actually lived, so it attached itself to him and now the guys got spinosaurus body horror powers, and i made it that way specifically becuase i wanted the villain to have the power of "love" and i wanted to figure out how to make the power of love *scary* and while the villain who REALLY utilized it in scary ways is long since dead now, his son and the people in his life he left behind when he died still carries on the same powers and struggles with the trauma related to those powers. i know its not normal for a super hero story to even have a proper magic system, usually its just each character has their own weird sort of mini hard magic system attached to them for weird arbitrary usually science fiction type reasons, and i was a bit unsure if i should do it this way, but its led to WILD story possibilities and a protagonist i LOVE. Do weird things! because everything amazing and unexpected is weird by default because anything outside the norm IS weird. You cant BE amazing if you are too afraid to be abnormal! so get weird! and remember more than anything to TRY to do what sounds fun to you, not just what's predictable or normal! and if sometimes that means you wind up with weird dialogue or made fun of a little...well great! that means someones reading your book >: ) so youve already won~

Just in case any fanfic writers don’t think their writing is good enough or sound natural enough, I just read a published book that included the phrases ‘a street savy yet affectionate hand clasp’ and ‘ at the sound, a dose of freak-out juice ran through her’. You’re doing fine

[minas-linkverse]

At a risk of being controversial: I really dont enjoy the fanon trope of making Hylia a villain. I dont claim people who do that are evil or sexist, there's obivous writing potential there and people are allowed to explore it. I personally however find it uncomfortable, and I want to speak out in case someone else feels the same and would be relieved to not be alone.

Hylia as a character is a ...fairly new addition to franchise. We first learn of her in skyward sword, a game that's story aims to explain the reincarnation cycle's excistence.

I think due to that, and how in botw we see the first canon story that potrays the cycle as bad, its easy for new and old fans to point at hylia and go: I dont trust this. (It doesnt help Hylia is connected to vague christian imaginary and people have their own issues with religion.)

Again I dont blame people for this, some fans are new, some are coping with religious trauma, and some just wanna explore the cool concept that is reincarnating heroes.

However, my discomfort comes from a few facts in this matter that I want to put out there for people to consider.

My first issue is that Hylia is not the person who started the issue. We know the evil force that is Demise existed before the cycle, and for some reason or another Hylia nor the other goddesses could not stop him. Hylia made her plan in order to seal demise away for good, and it didnt work. It just didn't work.

It doesnt matter if demise cursed the reincarnation thing or if Hylia decided it'd repeat forever. The fact is that theres a malicious unquestionably evil force that a goddess tried to stop and failed.

You can dislike her plan all you want, but hindsight is 20/20 and all that—

Okay, breather, I am passionate about this but I know my opinion isnt the objective fact. Maybe Hylia could stop this cycle and try something else, maybe she is inhuman in mind and spirit and doesnt comprehend the horrors she has caused. We don't know and you can fill these blanks as you see fit.

But uhm, this does bring me to my second opinion, which might be harder to take seriously it you're disagreeing with this post already.

I think there's sexism around how fans treat Zelda and Hylia, not helped at all by Nintendo's own actions.

I see people be put off by skyward sword Zelda, perhaps writing her unemphatic and clueless of Link's battles to find her. So much so that we ignore the fact she too was ripped from home, told she has to be someone else, and forced to drag her best friend along so the world wouldnt end. She is a victim too, but why do we forget this?

In my opinion it's partly due to the bad writing of women Nintendo keeps doing. Zelda is written so... perfect. Nintendo refuses to aknowledge her flaws as a person and instead is like look how pretty she is, she apologises and Link forgives her, so you should too! ...When, if you dont do so, it feels like you're being manipulated or dismissed whenever she is on screen.

An issue that repeats with Hylia as well. With many Zeldas in many games.

To react to that tonal dissonance with writing Zelda/Hylia as evil is... normal, I think. I don't blame people for feeling that way.

But,, That seems unfair to me. A female character with potential to be complex and good was failed by the writers, and now we as fans continue from that point with making her even worse.

I dont dislike fans who do this, you're just participating in fandom the way you see fit, but I cant enjoy it, it makes me upset. These women are not evil, Link isn't the only character being hurt deeply, and if you could please consider female characters beyond how they hurt ya boy, I'd be so relieved.

...

I'll repeat what I said at the start, I dont claim people who do this are evil or sexist. People are having fun in fandom, and ngl demise sucks as a villain and Hylia is way more interesting to explore.

I just... I think its worth asking yourself why her. Why you don't or do like Zelda. Engaging in things you love with an analytic eye is genuinely good for you and the media you're enjoying.

This in no means is meant to come off as an attack, Im just requesting we look at another angle of things, maybe just to say we did.

I uh, thanks for reading.

[thesunshinydays]

ooooo uh top 5 video games

OOOH MY GODDD

5. tie between inscryption (<- your fault) and undertale/deltarune. i just love metafiction so so much. metafiction is an instant nerdsnipe

4. breath of the wild, which walked so that genshin impact could run and also steal peoples wallets as it sprints past. botw is beautiful and also was the first open worldish game that i could make progress in without getting bored immediately. i love to just open the game and wander around and experience the world.

3. ghost trick. an utterly charming game about the ghost of a man trying to solve his own murder while uncovering a huge plot and saving and befriending strangers along the way. it was written by ace attorneys shu takumi and you can really tell because it has the same bonkers level of complexity and hard earned heart warming moments. i replay this one whenever i need a little more faith in humanity and also want to see a funny guy unmurder people. marn you should absolutely play this one it has hitmen AND time loops AND ghosts.

2. WITCHS HEART MY BELOVED. god where do i even start with this one. its a japanese rpgmaker horror game. its a reverse harem shoujo anime. its a psychologcal thriller. its got the prettiest colors ive ever seen. its an examination of the different ways trauma can affect people and of what happens when you trap those people in a house with demons for five days (the demons are also traumatized). the demons mostly look like monsters except for the most powerful ones filled with the most hatred for humanity, those ones look like girls wearing lolita fashion. the protagonist is a girl with a heart of gold, a head of empty, and legs of steel. shes so dumb but she never skips leg day the other characters need weapons to fight monsters she just kicks them. it also has time loops as well as my favorite poor little meow meow of all time. its going to have four endings but only one of them has been released so far but its so satisfying so i know at least one of the others is going to hurt me. its over 19 hours long according to how long to beat but that hasnt stopped me form playing through it two and a half times. its got so many unintended glitches. its about what people are willing to do in order to grant their deepest wish and how granting that wish doesnt necessarily heal the damage thats been done. there is a cooking minigame. the guy who owns the house makes you do chores. there is gratuitous violence. there is a fishing minigame. 

1. borderlands 2 i will never be over borderlands 2. borderlands is what happens happens when the AAA game studio doesnt realize that they hired queer dudes as the head writers on the first two titles in their big fps shoot em up game series. its so bright and colorful and silly and campy in the face of so many of the grizzled marine fps games of the era and i felt at home immediately, its where i learned to play fps games because it was the first fps i felt truly excited to play. every queer kid has one or two pieces of media that kept them company when they needed it and helped them figure things out, and this was one of mine. perhaps i am being a tad sappy but bl2 made such a difference in my life im not even joking. that being said, theres also a mission where you hunt down four rat guys in a sewer who are very blatantly the teenage mutant ninja turtles but as rats and theres another where you meet a guy named “Shooty McFace” and you have to shoot him in the face. it also briefly renames one of the common enemy types “Bonerfarts.” theres a shotgun that shoots swords that explode into smaller swords. so like. grain of salt and all that.

[animalinvestigator]

💕 for the hyperfixation ask game if u want!

HI ZILLY!!!!!!! i hope youre having a good day today : ) thank you for sending the ask

💕 tell us about one of your favorite characters and why you like them!

OK!!! PAUL IS MY FAVORITE . probably. ok its complicated but he's probably my favorite. he's a really earnest portrayl of denial in trauma to me...he's a very uncomfortable truth and resonates a lot with my own experineces in sooo many ways. i love everyhting about how he's written. he functions so well as a subversion of a typical "creepypasta protagonist", he means so much to me as a commentary on identity and childhood trauma in terms of his actual existence in the story, and he's also just kind of a hugeeeee goober. i like how he's bitchy sometimes. i like how he kind of cluelessly stumbles into an unfathomable unstoppable machine and hes just like... (sipping baja blast) Lol? i like how he comes up with excuses about how he can't have anything to do with it until the very end. he's clawing at any kind of sense of normalcy until he's literally physically locked inside a room and has to stare the truth in his face. it means a lot to me..... hes a real importtant character. i cant really come up with anything coherent to say besides that but he is really important to me. i made a picture about some words i feel about him so you can look at that instead. i have a truly demonic and evil playlist sitting around with just songs that remind me of him and this picture is mostly words from thoes song

💎 are there any fun facts or trivia that you would like to share?

U ALREADY KNOW ALL MY TRIVIA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! heres a random one you definitely already know.

theres a split second moment in 23 where you can see belle trying to get paul to protect himself from marvin by writing in draw mode on the ghost room textures -- you have to pause to see it, but its like, unspeakably tragic to me.........

...except for the fact that belles handwriting is so fucking.funny im sorry. IM SORRY LOOK AT IT

also i only noticed this recently because of my best frined pointing it out shoutout lucas, but not only is the accident symbol (which is an interesting recurring motif icould write 700 essays on) located on the board games in the counselor room in 22, there's also the unmistakable shape and color of a lina leskowitz on the game titled "rotation"

i wonder what these board games would hypothetically look like a lot. I think the fact taht checkers is also just there is pretty much the funniest thing ever. Next to the three games about being unable to reconcile the post traumatic self with the pre traumatic self. Just checkers.Oh rainer hammond

[xxrat--punkxx]

So what's your favorite thing about Tyreen annd Moxxi?

i can give u the short answer or the literal essay answer? fuck it both

well i could say mmmm woman and bve sone w it but honestly i love their characters, and the way they present themselves, i love to see a girlboss winning

ok essay time

Moxxi:

moxxi is instantly a stand out character from the rest of the game, seeing as my first bl game i played was bl3, seeing her for ther first time was verry 'oh wow' she was a breath of air from the more gritty and combat oriented designs. She rly stood out immidatly essentally. And yes, she is designed with fan servise in mind, that much is clear, but it dosen't feel out of place or disjointed from the game. she still has elements of her design, such as the gun and bullets on a belt that have function and use in the enviroment. So i don't feel her design is pushing oversexualised elements, like yes she is sexualised, but it works? like never once is she presented in a 'derogatory' manour. And honestly i love that so much.

its very rare in video games, especially with a 'the boys' heavy playerbase, to see well written and diverse female characters. Moxxi is a mother, shes intellegent, she knows her way around mechines WELL, shes got her own buisniss, shes got trauma, shes got DEPTH. i can tell that the writers really did care about her character when making her, shes so much more than the 'fan servise character', becasue shes got key involvement in storylines. For me, i feel she embodies female sexuality and the choice to not be descrere about it due to prersonal preference. Moxxi is the way she is mostly beacause she feels most comfortable this way. With borderlands having a HUGE focus on self expression, doing things because u want to and individuality, i feel Moxxi is such a nice show of this.

Tyreen:

i am such a sucker for female villians, like give me an evil woman and i will love her indefinalty (see ladt dimitrescu lmao). But ty literally instantly screamed 'fave character' for me because omfg shes so fun. Shes cringey, overly playful and eccentric, omg i was in love. tyreen writing wise is... shallow, very one dimentionl but has literally so many foundations to be such an amazingly written character. And honestly i love that, theres so much for me, or the audience to unpack and interperate for ourselves. Shes got all this backstory just sitting there doing nothing, so it's so easy for me to make it ewhaterver i want, for me to put ocs in that story, or hell to even self project. I kin tyreen, shich essentially means i heavily realte to the chartacter, and this is mostly through this untapped potential in her writng. Theres other reasons as wellt ho, like the family issues, the fear of falure and more darker themes of her character i can relate to that hell i find comfort in.

Ty is a huge comfort character to me because ive been able to make her so presonal to me becuase of the way i see her backstory. Her character from what we got is so unbelivably over the top, like honey ur 5'3 and ur wearing a cape which is literally your height, shes goofy as all hell and probably knows it. her character as a concept, although exicuted fairly poorly, was fun as hell, 'evil twitch streamers' is such a fun concept and i love how well she plays that role and is just as probalmatic as humanly possible and just goes with it. god i love her

[huntertherapyeras]

1, 6, 19, 25 for the writing ask game :)

hiiii cay :) fair warning these might be out of order since im using my phone's clipboard!

Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

so i have a few! mostly fanfics.

there's the body electric, which i haven't written for since maybe 2018 ? but i think about it a Lot. its a danny phantom fic featuring trans danny! was originally a rewrite of the show but im not sure what im doing with it now! it's probably my best work, very experimental bc i wrote it in second person, very personal because it talks about being a trans kid with trauma, and very important to me because of that. it also got an amazing reception, which im super proud of! gosh i gotta keep writing for that. my writing isnt nearly as good as it used to be bc im rusty and have cognitive issues but i really want to get back into it!

and then there's your past so present you can feel your baby teeth. its a catradora college au where catra and adora are cult survivors. i really want to do the subject justice, but i think im gonna rewrite the last few chapters i have published bc i feel like one scene is not sensitively written enough so i gotta go back and fix that. i have a lot of plans for this one! i just kinda am having trouble with motivation now ever since noelle made that racist joke awhile back. really hurt me and turned me off of the fandom lol, im sensitive. slavery jokes arent funny my friends.

im also working on in bloom. its a fic about autistic amity learning to unmask and heal from trauma surrounding ableism around her. very important to me. luz is such a light for amity and i really wanted to convey that!!!! i love luz so much!!

the most recent multichapter fic ive been working on is a post amphibia fic called just like an amnesiac (tryna get my senses back). its about marcy healing from the events of amphibia. mostly just kinda sad rn, but things will be looking up for her soon 💜 only two chapters in so far!

i have multiple one shot prompts sitting in my ask box and i really want to write for them and have ideas, i just have a really hard time getting started. and i had some original story ideas a long time ago too, but memory problems washed most of the concepts away so i guess im starting from scratch! i don't mind tho 💜

oh and theres one original short story i never finished from a few years ago but i cant remember the title rn... still tryna figure out how i want to end it but its nearly done lol

What character do you have the most fun writing?

ah jeez, i write for so many different fandoms at this point its kind of hard to pick just one! i like characters that i find easier to relate to. so danny fenton, marcy wu, amity blight, catra AND adora. i find luz fairly easy to write too, though im a little nervous to write from her perspective for some reason! i did a lot of writing from kurama's (from yyh) and ryou bakura's (from ygo) perspectives as well back in the day when i was still working on the ygo/yyh/hp crossover that ive long since abandoned. that was my longest fic at about 30k words when i abandoned it and like 70 pages! they were pretty easy to write about too i think!

What part of writing is the most fun?

honestly? projecting onto characters. i just think its neat :)

Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

nightmare sequences are a fave. something about being comforted after a nightmare or panic attack is so good to me... i think its bc i Want That lol

thanks for asking!!!!

[kkmm32]

So I made a Frenrey Fic-

I haven’t had two characters to ship together in forever and haven’t written since school ended so wHY not get some practice with both of em? At once??  Now don’t worry, it’s fluff (lord knows theres too many NSFW HLVRAI fics out there already...) and it’s probably like- mediocre but thats ok!!  So anyway, without further ado I bring you “Northern Lights” Enjoy!

It was late out when Gordon found himself staring up at the ceiling yet again.  How many times had he done this?  Three?  Five? Twenty?  it's not like he had bothered to count.  He had found himself startled awake by all too real nightmares countless of times, staring up at the ceiling or the sky, wherever they had decided to sleep.  It's true he had faced aliens, the military, death, to put it simply, right in the face hundreds of times while on their journey and at this point his nightmares should be just like any other day... or well any other day past the incident.  But unfortunately the human mind couldn't adapt to such things easily and thus his trauma forced him to relive the scariest moments of his life over and over, whether he liked it or not.  It's not like he hadn't tried to go back to sleep before, even if his dreams had caused him to wake in a cold sweat more times than he cared to mention.  But every time he tried he found himself too...awake, for a lack of a better term.  His mind had already been tossed into fight or flight mode and it would take a while for it to return back.  He had no choice but to wait it out every night.  Most times he would just lie there, motionless, staring up until he felt his eyes begin to droop, but he found himself too bored this time.  He had the need to move, do something.  The memory of his nightmare flashed in his mind and he'd rather distract himself from it than let it fester.

He hoisted himself into a sitting position, groaning as he felt his sore muscles tense.  The days of fighting and running around had left quite the toll on him and he could no doubt feel it.  He looked around groggily.  They were still in the rocket launch room, the "Science Team," as Coomer had called them, was sleeping peacefully, although they looked like they were in the most uncomfortable poses.  He chuckled slightly at the sight, though quickly regretted that as he felt his chest ache.  He let out a sigh and glanced over at the windows.  He couldn't make out much, as the moon and the stars were the only light illuminating the outside.  He did, however, notice the outline of a figure.  He almost jumped out of his skin when it moved to look at him.  He was taken quite aback at first when he saw who it was.

"Wuh...Benrey?  Is that you?" he asked hesitantly.

"In the flesh." Benrey replied in his unmistakable stoic voice.

"But...how?" Gordon started, puzzled.

"How what bro?  You gotta finish your sentences, Feetman."  Gordon huffed slightly at the jab.

"I mean- how are you here?  Didn't you get, y'know, incinerated by the rocket?"

"I jus' respawned bro.  Like a..uhhh...video game character or whatever.  Like Steve minecraft."

"Right, right, you can't die..."  He let out a long sigh and stared past Benrey, out at the sky, or at least what he could see of it.  "What are you doing up this late anyway?  Shouldn't you be sleeping?"  Benrey glanced at him, almost a glint of… confusion In his eyes.  He quickly shook his head though and went back to staring into nothing.

"Gotta keep watch brooo, can't let any of those military dudes get y- get us."

"I guess that makes sense..."  There was silence as Gordon struggled to come up with something to talk about.  He wasn't particularly a bad conversationalist, per se, but when it came to Benrey you never know what could send him into a flurry of nonsense.  It was like traversing a minefield, one wrong word and he'd become incomprehensible...well, more than he already was.  His stream of thought was cut short, however, by a high pitch sound that made his nose scrunch.  He turned back to Benrey, who was surrounded by colorful orbs of light that started at pleasant orange and dipped into a light blue.  They glowed faintly around him, lighting him up in an almost majestic way.  But as quickly as they had appeared they faded.  Gordon sat there for a moment before shaking his head slightly.  "Orange to blue?  What does that mean?"  Benrey looked at Gordon for a moment, almost contemplating, before stating-

"Orange to blue means a song for youu"

"So you're just...singing?"

"Yeah bro.  What, you got a problem with my singing or something?  Lil Feetman can't stand my tunes?"  Gordon growled at the comment.

"No I juST-"  Before he got any further with his sentence he took a deep breath and sighed, which prompted Benrey with a slightly puzzled look.  He glanced away as he stated "It just surprised me is all, usually they have meanings or something, or they like- have some purpose.  I didn't expect them to be for entertainment.. and your singing is pretty nice actually.."  Gordon was almost baffled at his own words.  It was unlike him to compliment Benrey, especially after he had just insulted him.  And, when he glanced back up at Benrey, it appeared he was caught off guard as well.  He let out a high pitched pink and quickly turned away.  "Pink?  What does pink mean?

"Itmeansyou- you stink!" Benrey quickly retorted, still turned away.  Gordon let out a huff of annoyance.  Just when he thought he was getting on some kind of good terms with Benrey.  He shuffled to his feet, giving a glance a Benrey.  He had turned back to look at Gordon but unfortunately his face wasn't lit, and Gordon couldn't tell if he was smugly smirking or not.  He turned away and made for the door that led outside, he figured it'd be best to get some fresh air.

He made it over to a comfortable looking ledge, or at least as comfortable looking as a ledge can get, and sat down, gazing out into the sky.  Gordon hadn't really gotten the chance to look at the night the past few days, what with being stuck in the stuffy halls of Black Mesa and all, so it was nice to finally relax and gaze out at the stars.  Of course, it wasn't long before Benrey was making his way over to antagonize him some more.  He plopped himself down beside Gordon, a rather blank expression on his face as he stared at him.

"What, have you come to insult me some more or something?"

"Naw bro just gazin' " he replied nonchalantly, though Gordon could swear he saw the slightest flicker of hesitance in his eyes.  He sighed and stared back out at the stars with Benrey.

It was sorta nice to just sit in silence and let his mind wander, even if Benrey was right there beside him.  As he let his thoughts drift he slowly came back to the sweet voice.  It was quite the marvel honestly, and he wondered why he hadn't questioned it before.  Benrey wasn't human, that was obvious, but how exactly did he get the sweet voice?  Was he born with it?  Was it something he learned?  Was the sweet voice even learnable?  He knew Tommy could read it but he wasn't sure he himself could use the sweet voice.  Actually, how could Tommy even read the sweet voice?  Who taught him how to?  Benrey?  Why would Benrey teach him how to read sweet voice?  Now that he thought about it Benrey never really explained the sweet voice at all.  Gordon knew it had properties, that was for sure considering it magically calmed his nerves countless of times before, but outside of that it was more or less a mystery.  Benrey seemed to be the only bearer of it though and nobody had ever really asked to know more about it...maybe all he had to do was ask and Benrey would tell him?

"Hey Benrey?"

"Wuh?"

"How exactly does the Black Mesa Sweet Voice...work?  Like- how do you read it?  What do the different colors mean?"  Benrey seemed to freeze for a moment before tipping his head to side with a smile, glancing away.

"That's classified info ffffeetman."

"What do you mean it's classified?  Are you going by Dr. Coomer's logic because I'm pretty sure that doesn't apply in our situation anymore-"

"Sorry bro, can't break the Black Mesa roolzzz."

"Why would Black Mesa issue a rule for the entire facility that only applies to ONE person?"  Benrey simply shrugged, which only further enraged Gordon.  He was about to speak again when Benrey promptly covered his mouth with his hand and stared Gordon down.

"Look bbbro I can't tell you, it's as simple as that, ok?  Just chill..." He removed his hand from Gordon's mouth and stared back up at the sky calmly, his stern look gone.  Gordon gave a grumpy huff and turned away, staring towards the ground.  Benrey glanced over at him, and looked towards the ground himself.  There was a moment of silence before it was Benrey who was the one to break it this time.  "You said you couldn't like....'sleep' or whatever right?"  Benrey asked, catching Gordon off guard.

"Yeah..?  And?"

"Just like- wait with your eyes closed for like.....uhhh.......5 seconds broo you'll see."  Gordon turned slightly to glance at Benrey from the corner of his eye, curious.

"Why do I have to close my eyes?  What are you gonna do?"

"It's- It- It'll be like....a big surprise yooo.  Epic surprise, super poggers.  You wouldn't wanna ruin the surprise now would you?  Be a lil- lil party pooper- lil bitch baby man and ruin the surprise?"  Gordon gave a long sigh and, though he hated following Benrey's orders, covered his eyes.  There were a few moments of silence before Gordon could hear the distinct sound of the Sweet Voice.  It lasted for quite some time and Gordon had to use a good portion of his self-restraint to peak through his hands at what in the world Benrey was doing.  Why would he have him cover his eyes if it's just the sweet voice?

"Ok broo you can like- open you socket stuffers now"  Gordon cringed at that usage of words but removed his hands from his eyes regardless.  He was...stunned.. baffled.. amazed.. it was a range of emotions to say the least.  Benrey had somehow managed to spread a wide variety of pinks, oranges, and blues all across the sky above them like little fireflies.  They showered the area in a faint glow that looked..incredible and Gordon couldn't help but stare in awe.

"Benrey... you... how.. why'd you.."  Benrey settled down beside Gordon as he spoke.

"You said you couldn't sleep bro, doesn't uhh... pretty stuff help people sleep?"

"I mean I guess I just... I never expected you to.."  Gordon's words drifted away as he stared.

"What d'ya think tho?  Pretty poggers right?"  Gordon paused before turning to face Benrey as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Benrey it's... it's beautiful."  Benrey paused for a moment, almost as if he was processing what had been said before turning away, covering his mouth to keep any sweet voice from escaping.

"Well- psh- yeah duh.  I mean it's- ahaha- it's like...supposed to be bro.  Be pretty pointless if it wasn't, right?"  Gordon let out a hearty laugh at Benrey's response.

"Yeah, I guess so."  They stared up at the now colorful sky for a long while before Gordon spoke again.  "Hey Benrey could you..."  he paused hesitantly.  "Could you sing for me?"

"...Huh?"  Gordon quickly tried to make the situation less awkward by elaborating.

"Could you- could you sing for me?  To like- help me sleep?  Music usually helps people sleep and the Sweet Voice is pretty calming and I was just thinking-" before he could finish his sentence Benrey abruptly cut him off.

"Sure bro"  He began to sing out blue's and oranges once more and Gordon found that, while looking at the colorful orbs in the sky, though there weren't much left, and listening to Benrey's voice, he felt very peaceful for once.  It had been days since he had felt even a smidgen of peace and somehow, sitting here with Benrey, it was stronger than ever.  As he felt himself relax, leaning onto Benrey, his eyes began to droop and soon he was plunged back into the dream world.